Well, apparently there are more uptight atheists and pagans in our country than I thought. And now they're being pacified with the government's decision to ban "One Nation Under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. I bet all the Christians, Baptists, Catholics, etc. (especially the uptight ones) are having a cow over this.

Now as some of y'all may have read before, I'm a pagan (and proud of it). But IMO, this is totally stupid and pathetic. Personally, I'm pretty much a live-and-let-live kind of person - don't tell me how to live my life, I don't tell you how to live yours. I have no problem whatsoever with the Ten Commandments being plastered on every wall in every school or office building in the country, I have no problem with people saying grace before a meal (such as my mother), I had no problem with some of my ex-coworkers having bible studies during lunch (some of them, who were also good friends of mine, would ask me to join them, but I politely declined), and I sure as hell have no problem with the fukking Pledge of Allegiance!!

I bet the uptight atheist and pagan @$$holes have no problem spending money that says In God We Trust - of course it may be just a matter of time before they complain about that too. [img]images/smiles/icon_mad.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_mad.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_mad.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_mad.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_mad.gif[/img]

NP: Platypus - When Pus Comes To Shove (wait a minute, Ty Tabor is a devout Christian - maybe I should listen to something else because of his beliefs. NAAAHHH!!!)

I think it is the fact that in some schools they FORCE you to say the pledge of allegiance regardless of your beliefs, and that is what I have a problem with. I personally don't say the pledge of allegiance because of that statement, I truly do not believe that this is "one nation under God". If someone wants to say it fine, but I won't.

Isn't there supposed to be separation between church and state,though? What does God have to do with pledging allegiance to the US? Religion should be kept out of schools period. BTW,I am neither an atheist nor a pagan.

Shortly after the court announced its decision, Newdow talked to CNN's Arthel Neville by phone during "Talkback Live."

The following is why he said he did it:

Neville: Mr. Newdow, thank you for joining us and tell us what you think of all of this.

Newdow: I think the Constitution has been upheld. I think they made the right decision.

Neville: At what point did your daughter come home to you and say she was ostracized for not saying the Pledge of Allegiance?

Newdow: My daughter is in the lawsuit because you need that for standing. I brought this case because I am an atheist and this offends me, and I have the right to bring up my daughter without God being imposed into her life by her schoolteachers. So she did not come and say she was ostracized.

Neville: Why do you think that it wasn't enough just to tell your daughter, "It's OK not to say this if you don't want to say this, if you don't believe this"?

Newdow: I believe in the Constitution. The Constitution says that government isn't supposed to be infusing religion into our society, and so I asked to have that upheld.

Neville: How long have you been contemplating this suit?

Newdow: One day I was just looking at the coins (that) is what brought this up. I saw "In God We Trust" on my coins. I said, "I don't trust in God," what is this? And I recalled there was something in the Constitution that said you're not allowed to do that and so I did some research. And as soon as I did the research, I realized the law seemed to be on my side and I filed the suit. It's a cool thing to do. Everyone should try it.

...And for the record I am not pagan or christian or a member of any other organized religion either. But I must confess when I was in school, even far enough back and in the bible belt that pray was still allowd by the schools themselves if not the law, I was never forced to participate. According to the one man who brought the suit his daughter was not being forced to either. Not only that but she was not riciculed for her choice either.

This is frivolious and nit picky. Yet more taxpayers dollars going to a "cause" of one person who saw a chance to get on the front page. If we continue to try to please every person in this country then we will find our personal rights being systematically removed by a few.

BTW, as I said I hate organized religion and do not fallow any. But "God" is a generic term. It can in most cases encompass any higher power as can "Goddess." Most people like this man mistakenly connect this generic term to the Christian god and no other. The generic term is used both in the pledge and on our money so that it is inclusive of all religions found here in our country. In this way it was belived that people would understand the government was not supporting any ONE religion.

I say leve it as it is. I never said it in school either and I never prayed. I was never treated badly by my peers for my choice. We have far more important things to worry about and spend our tax dollars on.

I am so sick of these liberal nimrods. Cripes, get over it, if you don't want your kid so say "under God" than just tell her not to say it. Be a parent. Maybe if parents would have a greater role in the education of their own kids they wouldn't have to worry about them soaking up all of this information about God in schools. Instead, they pack them up and ship them out and leave them in the hands of the school system, and then bitch when things aren't like they want them to be. Too bad, nothing is perfect in this world.

If I ever have a kid, he's going to Catholic school or private school or maybe even milatary school. I'll be damned if he's going to be grow up wallowing in this left wing, socialist, politically correct, sess pool that our country is becoming.

I to am so sick of the political correctness bull$hit,there are more important things to worry about I think than feeling your kid is being brainwashed into thinking one way,when they cite the pledge.there are people out there who want to kill us..and we only care about this.this is just wrong.if anything we need a little healing and unity and where do you start? when children are young before they are influenced by god--usa-hating liberals with nothing to give to society but a frikken headache to people,who care about the future of this country..you know nothing lasts forever,do you want your grand kids to live in a free country like yourself and as your parents.well if we dont stop fighting each other over this crap this is what going to happen.So the usa isnt perfect BUT is there another country with the freedom like we have?If so then I invite all those liberals just to leave then,since they cant handle freedom.And to the court who ruled this should be the first to leave.

All they want to do is take the word "God" out of the Pledge Of Allegiance. No one is saying that you can't believe in God. If people want to send their kids to private religious school,then fine.

To be honest with you,I am not really infuriated by it either way. For me the sun will still rise tomorrow. I always said the Pledge in school and never had a problem with it(like I said,I'm not an atheist). However,we do need to realize that not everyone holds Judeo-Christian beliefs. There may be children who are atheists who want to say the Pledge but just don't want to say God since it isn't what they believe in. There is no reason to get upset over this change IMO.

BTW,the "under God" part wasn't added until 1954. It was written by a Christian Socialist in 1892 and has been changed before.

True iworrior. And honestly I am not upset by the reason behind the lawsuit. What pisses me off is the amount of taxpayer money is going into this whole thing. The profile on the guy bringing the lawsuit is he is a doctor with a law degree. There are so many more noble causes that would actually make a more profound impact one our nation he could be working on. But he chooses something so minor. Religion has for the post part departed our public instistutions. This is a waste of our money and time. It's not like anyone in his family was shunned because his daughter didn't conform.

I still think this falls under frivolious lawsuits. The only thing that gives me chuckle about this whole thing is this guy pays taxes too so he not only is paying to drag this through the court system, but he's also paying to fight it's going through.

I think James Hetfield wrote a cool tune about being mistreated by his parents. I think it was "Frayed Ends of Sanity." It was a hip track. Kids are just puppets to be pushed for the desires of their elders. Their interests are of little relevance from what I can tell. Besides, all the subjects in schools are mandatory b.s. Even, language can be learned out of school. I want kids rights now! As for taxes, everybody shares the burden of those.